Tewkesbury man tried to steal £2m left to air ambulance charity

Pearman forged a document which he titled "Letter of Wishes"

A man who forged a document in an attempt to steal £2.1m intended for an air ambulance charity has been jailed.

Stewart David Pearman, 75, of Bredon Road, Tewkesbury, was sentenced to five years and three months for fraud.

In 2016, an elderly woman known to Pearman died after battling cancer, in her will she made the charity the main beneficiary of her estate.

Just before her death Pearman forged a letter to her solicitors, declaring that he was the main beneficiary.

When the deceased wrote a will in 2014, she left £25,000 to Pearman who she had appointed as one of the executors of her will, Worcester Crown Court heard.

He later produced a document which he titled "Letter of Wishes" to solicitors dealing with her estate, declaring that he was now the sole executor of the will and the main beneficiary.

'Abused his position of trust'

Pearman suddenly stood to inherit £2,186,079, significantly more than she had intended to leave to him.

Gurminder Sanghera, a senior legal manager for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Pearman betrayed a friendship of 25 years and abused his position of trust as an executor of a dying lady's will, for his own personal benefit."

Solicitors appointed to process the will raised doubts about the legitimacy of the letter of wishes and an investigation was launched by West Mercia Police.

It was found that the defendant wrote the letter shortly before the deceased passed away and medical evidence from the deceased's GP confirmed that she did not have mental capacity to sign the letter.

The trial took place at Worcester Crown Court

Aleksander Yuriev Shikov, 35, and Luke William Derrett, 42, from Gloucestershire, were sentenced at court with him, after they supported his criminal behaviour by signing the letter of wishes as witnesses.

Shikov and Derrett provided sworn affidavits confirming that they signed the letter of wishes as witnesses after it was signed by the deceased.

However, they later confessed that they in fact signed the letter after the deceased had died and both pleaded guilty to wilfully making a false statement on oath.

'Despicable crime'

Both men were given four-month prison sentences, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid community work.

Det Con Simon Timbrell said: "This was a despicable crime that sought to both take advantage of an incredibly vulnerable woman and deny a life-saving charity vital funds.

"We are very pleased the estate will be bequeathed as intended."